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From next month they will have to pay to have excess rubbish removed from their premises.

Under the new rules outlined in a letter, the charities can have three black bags removed from their shops for free - after that, the charge is £1.10 per bag.

Lynne Ab-Elazm, manageress of Bacup Fellowship of Churches Charity Shop in Market Street, said: 'We feel very angry. I have contacted Oxfam and Age Concern and they have received the same letter.

'Our main problem is people tend to dump a lot of things on our doorstep, things we can't resell, toys that have to be thrown away, prams that need to be taken to the tip.

'I can have 20 black bags left for me at the shop and only half of the items inside are worth selling.

'Our money goes to help the communities of Bacup and Stacksteads. If we have to pay to have rubbish taken away then we are going to be earning less for the community.'

David Rigby, head of environmental services, said: 'We have a major, major problem with charity shops in that they are not recycling as much as they can.

'They have got to recycle what they are not able to sell in their shop. Textiles can be recycled at the centres where there are also shoe banks.

'Small quantities of bric-a-brac can be taken in a car to the sites at Haslingden and Stacksteads. Charity shops encourage people to leave items at their door, what we are asking is that they please recycle it.'

Laurence Tomlinson, waste minimisation and recycling officer, said sometimes up to 80 bags can be left outside charity shops.

He said: 'The dumping of black bin liners in the shop doorways is a fire hazard and is a health and safety risk for staff when they arrive for work.

'We need the public to realise that it is not good practice to leave these bags after the shops have closed. It will cost the charity to have the rubbish removed and it will cost the people if they are caught doing it.'

He said dumped bags could be seen as leaving litter in a public place or even flytipping. Both can result in fines.